CART: Robby Gordon hopes to tame pesky Laguna Seca on the wings of his Toyota-Eagle
8 September 1999
MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept. 8, 1999) – It hasn’t been the kindest track in the world to Robby Gordon during his seven-plus seasons of Champ Car racing. But historic Laguna Seca Raceway, site of this weekend’s Honda Grand Prix of Monterey, featuring Sunday's Texaco/Havoline 300, always will be a favorite. “In past years, I’ve always had bad luck at Laguna Seca,” said the 30-year-old Southern Californian, who started up his very own CART FedEx Championship Series team – Team Gordon – this past offseason. “I don’t know why that is, exactly. But it’s just one of those tracks that always seems to give me a hard time on race day. I've been taken out a few times, spun once in the corkscrew, had a fire last year - you name it. I'd like that to change! “But, then again, I’ve always had good luck at Vancouver, and look what happened to us there last weekend. Even with the hard luck, I enjoy going to Laguna. It’s such a great facility and Monterey is such a fun town. Everyone usually goes there in a good mood, and the sushi is some of the best this side of Japan.” The mood was anything but good in the Team Gordon camp last weekend after a late-race gamble to go to slick tires on the rain-soaked but drying Vancouver street course didn’t quite pay off. The day ended early for Gordon as his #22 Johns Manville/Panasonic/Menards Toyota-powered Eagle ended up in a tire barrier. This weekend, the series’ only owner-driver hopes for a much happier ending on the famous 2.238-mile Laguna Seca hillside road course. For a little change of scenery, Gordon took out his post-Vancouver aggressions in the batting cage prior to Monday’s New York Yankees vs. Anaheim Angels baseball game at Edison Field, just minutes from Team Gordon headquarters in Anaheim. “That was a piece of humble pie if I do say so myself,” Gordon said. “(Former American League batting champ and current Angels’ coach) Rod Carew was trying to give me batting tips … trying to keep me from putting my foot in the bucket, as they say. But old habits from Little League never die! I asked him if I should keep my day job, and he nodded, ‘yes.’ It was a big, definitive nod.” Sticking to what he does best, Gordon hopes to continue the magic that he first tasted as team owner at Laguna Seca during preseason testing. “We had our first test as a new team there in February, and it went really, really well,” said Gordon, who has five top-10 finishes with the first-year outfit he co-owns with John Menard and Mike Held. “The test went so well that it made me believe this concept of starting a Champ Car team from scratch could actually work. “I’m looking forward to racing there this weekend. I can still remember my first trip through the corkscrew in a Champ Car (back in 1993). It’s like no other corner in the world. You have to anticipate where the right edge is before you drop off, otherwise you put yourself in jeopardy of missing the next two corners altogether. When you hit the drop-off, it's like falling off a two story building, roller coaster-style. The vertical Gs are pretty substantial.” Practice and qualifying for the Texaco/Havoline 300, Round 17 of this year’s 20-race CART FedEx Championship Series, begins Friday (Sept. 10), and continues Saturday (Sept. 11). The green flag falls on race day, Sunday (Sept. 12), at noon PDT with a live broadcast set for ESPN.
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